Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 319
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 319.20 (2026)

Transfer of title and tax value of property

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Effective:
April 7, 2009
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 353 - 127th General Assembly
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After complying with sections 319.202, 315.251, and 319.203 of the Revised Code, and on application and presentation of title, with the affidavits required by law, or the proper order of a court or the county board of revision, bearing the last known address of the grantee, or of any one of the grantees named in the title, and a reference to the volume and page of the recording, or other means of identifying the recording, of the next preceding recorded instrument by or through which the grantor claims title, the county auditor shall transfer any land or town lot or part thereof, minerals therein, or mineral rights thereto, charged with taxes on the tax list, from the name in which it stands into the name of the owner, when rendered necessary by a conveyance, partition, devise, descent, or otherwise. If by reason of the conveyance or otherwise, a part only of a tract or lot, minerals therein, or mineral rights thereto, as charged in the tax list, is to be transferred, the auditor shall determine the tax value of the part of a tract or lot of real estate, minerals therein, or mineral rights thereto, so transferred, and the value of the remaining part compared with the value of the whole.

Whenever a part only of a tract or lot of real estate has been transferred by the auditor and the tract or lot bears unpaid taxes, penalties, interest, or special assessments, the unpaid taxes, penalties, interest, or special assessments shall immediately be apportioned, upon demand or request by the transferee or remaining owner, in the following manner:

(A) The auditor shall allocate to the part so transferred, and to the remaining part, amounts of any current or delinquent taxes, interest, or penalties that have accrued against the parcel as a whole, proportionate to their respective values.

(B) The lien of taxes, penalties, interest, and special assessments, as levied against the original tract, shall extend to the part so transferred and the part remaining only to the extent of the amounts so allocated to the respective parts.

This section does not change the total amount of taxes, special assessments, or other charges as originally levied, or the total amount of the balance due. The auditor shall certify such apportionments to the county treasurer.

Whenever the state acquires an entire parcel or a part only of a parcel of real property in fee simple, the county auditor, upon application of the grantor or property owner or the state, which application shall contain a description of the property as it appears on the tax list and the date of transfer of ownership, shall prepare an estimate of the taxes that are a lien on the property, but have not been determined, assessed, and levied for the year in which the property was acquired. The county auditor shall thereupon apportion the estimated taxes proportionately between the grantor and the state for the period of the lien year that each had or shall have had ownership or possession of the property, whichever is earlier. The county treasurer shall accept payment from the state for estimated taxes at the time that the real property is acquired. If the state has paid in full in the year in which the property is acquired that proportion of the estimated taxes that the tax commissioner determines are not subject to remission by the county auditor for such year under division (D) of section 5713.08 of the Revised Code, the estimated taxes paid shall be considered the tax liability on the exempted property for that year.

Section 319.42 of the Revised Code applies to the apportionment of special assessments.

Complaint against such values as determined by the auditor or the allocation of assessments by the certifying authority may be filed by the transferee or the remaining owner, and if filed, proceedings including appeals shall be had in the manner and within the time provided by sections 5717.01 to 5717.06 and 5715.19 to 5715.22 of the Revised Code, for complaints against valuation or assessment of real property.

The auditor shall endorse on the deed or other evidences of title presented to the auditor that the proper transfer of the real estate described in the deed has been made in the auditor's office or that it is not entered for taxation, and sign the auditor's name to the deed. The address of the grantee, or any one of the grantees, set forth in the deed or other evidences of title shall be entered by the auditor on the transfer sheets and on the general tax list of real property prepared pursuant to section 319.28 of the Revised Code.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1969–2026 · leading case: HIN, L.L.C. v. Cuyahoga Cnty. Bd. of Revision, 2010-Ohio-687, 923 N.E.2d 1144.
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HIN, L.L.C. v. Cuyahoga Cnty. Bd. of Revision, 2010-Ohio-687, 923 N.E.2d 1144. · cites it 4× “41 provides that “[e]ach person holding lands shall pay the tax assessed thereon each year * * *” (emphasis added), and R.C. 319.20 directs the county auditor to transfer the property into the buyer’s name on the tax list “on application and presentation of title.”
Cincinnati Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Hamilton Cnty. Bd. of Revision, 721 N.E.2d 40 (Ohio 2000). “20 describes how the auditor shall transfer ownership of land on the tax list: “[T]he county auditor shall transfer any land * * * charged with taxes on the tax list, from the name in which it stands into the name of the owner, when rendered necessary by a conveyance * * See,…”
Cincinnati Sch. Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Hamilton Cty. Bd. of Revision, 87 Ohio St. 3d 363 (2000). “20 describes how the auditor shall transfer ownership of land on the tax list: “[T]he county auditor shall transfer any land * * * charged with taxes on the tax list, from the name in which it stands into the name of the owner, when rendered necessary by a conveyance * * *.”
Kovach v. Walder, 2019-Ohio-5455. “We were re-recording the deed and requesting tax records to be changed to the proper owner according to ORC 319.20. I would like the Auditor to send the footage that encompasses the entire room.”
State ex rel. Peaspanen v. Ashtabula Cty. Auditor's Off., 2022-Ohio-166. · cites it 2× “He contends that the conveyance standards of Ashtabula County and R.C. 319.20 require respondents to accept the deeds using the 1961 and 1964 legal descriptions, especially when “the presented legal descriptions are accompanied by ‘affidavits of facts related to title’ prepared…”
FirstCal Indus. 2 Acquisitions, L.L.C. v. Franklin Cnty. Bd. of Revision, 2010-Ohio-1921, 125 Ohio St. 3d 485. “But a prerequisite to recording is the endorsement of the deed by the county auditor.”
Howard v. Dor El Realty Co., 253 N.E.2d 304 (Ohio Ct. App. 7th Dist. 1969). · cites it 2× “The trial court held that the auditor did not comply with Section 319.20, Revised Code, in omitting the name of plaintiff Garnet F.”
Food Franchises, Inc. v. Donofrio, 474 N.E.2d 689 (Ohio Ct. App. 9th Dist. 1984). “” Further, R.C. 319.20 provides in part: “Section 319.”
State ex rel. H&S Invest. Props., L.L.C. v. Yamamoto, 2026-Ohio-1505. · cites it 7× “, R.C. 319.20, “describes how the auditor shall transfer ownership of land on the tax list: ‘[T]he county auditor shall transfer any land .”
State ex rel. Taraloca Land Co. v. Fawley, 639 N.E.2d 98 (Ohio 1994). · cites it 4× “R.C. 319.20 provides in part: “After complying with section 319.”
State ex rel. Taraloca Land Co. v. Fawley, 1994 Ohio 456 (Ohio 1994). · cites it 5× “See R.C. 319.20. Accordingly, Taraloca's president submitted the deed for transfer and endorsement to respondent-appellee, the Highland County Auditor.”
Groveport Madison Local Schs. Bd. of Edn. v. Franklin Cty. Bd. of Revision (Slip Opinion), 2017-Ohio-1428, 77 N.E.3d 957. “Service by the BTA to an owner’s tax mailing address ordinarily will satisfy that standard, because the owner designates that address to the auditor at the time of transfer (R.C. 319.20) and has a duty to notify the county treasurer of any changes (R.”
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